Hello, I just joined. I've been playing violin for several years, but only had lessons a small part of that time. Most of what I learned was through sitting in on our sons' lessons and helping them. Now I am also getting my own lessons when our teacher has time, but only half as often as they do. So my progress has been unremarkable although I've been at this for almost seven years. I have also been playing mandolin for a year and a half, and I just started guitar.

MACJR

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January 17, 2017 - 11:01 pm

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Hello LaundryCrisis. Welcome to the forum. 🙂

Speaking of laundry crisis, I have those every Sunday, which is my chosen laundry day. But for me, it is just myself and my cat that I have to do laundry for. Yeah, I wash the cat's bedding every so often too. She likes that.

I am teaching myself to play. I did have an instructor when I was a kid, but that was a long, long time ago. I had to learn everything all over again, from the beginning. Having childhood experience is a bit of an advantage, but not a huge one after not playing for about 42 years.

I am four months in to playing again, and getting better, but I still have a long way to go and much still to learn.

See you around the board. 🙂

MACJR

BillyG

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January 18, 2017 - 3:52 am

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Welcome @laundrycrisis

I'm sure you'll both enjoy and benefit-from the forum here - an eclectic bunch of folks, different levels, different backgrounds in music, different "approaches" to things - awesome!

It's a friendly place for exchange of tips and ideas, be it fingering, bowing, sheet music, demo and critique video postings, violin maintenance and repair - you name it we discuss it !

I seriously recommend not copying my mistakes. D'oh -

Please make your own, different mistakes, and help us all learn :-)

damfino

oHIo, USA

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January 18, 2017 - 8:33 am

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Welcome to the forum! Lots of very helpful folks here, I think you'll enjoy it and find it beneficial 😀

☆•*¨*•¸¸¸.•*¨*•☆•*¨*•¸¸¸.•*¨*•☆•*¨*•.¸¸¸.•*¨*•☆On a journey to learn the fiddle since July 24, 2015☆•*¨*•.¸¸¸.•*¨* •☆•*¨*¨*•¸¸¸.•*¨*•☆

Fran

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January 18, 2017 - 10:13 am

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Hey @laundrycrisis welcome!!!! Enjoy the journey 🙂

TangledUpInWriting

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January 21, 2017 - 7:53 am

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Hi! Welcome to the forum!

coolpinkone

California, the place of my heart

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January 21, 2017 - 3:30 pm

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@laundrycrisis

Welcome to our family/forum.

We are so happy to have you. Happy Violin days.

A little known fact about me... I adore doing laundry. I miss the days of a big family and lot of laundry to fold. I think it has to do with all those clean neat piles of clothes and well... Yea... I think I am just a freak like that.

Enjoy the forum and post often.

Cheers,

Toni

Vibrato Desperato.... Desperately seeking vibrato

Gjinja

Tulsa, OK

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January 25, 2017 - 3:11 pm

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coolpinkone said

A little known fact about me... I adore doing laundry. I miss the days of a big family and lot of laundry to fold. I think it has to do with all those clean neat piles of clothes and well... Yea... I think I am just a freak like that.

Feel free to stop by my house & do all the laundry you can find... I wish you happiness abounding! lol 🙂

"I know that the most joy in my life has come to me from my violin."

~Albert Einstein~

Gjinja

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January 25, 2017 - 3:22 pm

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Hi, I just joined & hoping to learn a lot here.

I've played several instruments throughout my life & always wanted to try my hand at the violin but never could til recently. I literally just received my very VERY cheap student model about a week ago. It seems to sound ok to me (for a cheap student model at least) but I'm not certain I've been exposed enough to it for me to be picky about the sound quality anyway. Understanding everything that comes with student models of any instrument (strings, bridge, etc) are going to be as cheap & bad as it gets, I went ahead & bought some extra accessories to 1) attempt to upgrade the sound quality a bit... &, 2)In the case of strings, have an extra set available for when they inevitably break.

I know there's probably a better place to ask this but I couldn't seem to find it. My question(s) is this:

*Should I go ahead & change out the strings that came on my violin when I got it, or wait until I have a better ear for any improvement it may/may not make?

*The bridge that came with it seems pretty cheap so I bought another... how much difference would chaning that make & should I do that as well now?

Thanks, looking forward to a long relationships with those I get to know here 🙂

"I know that the most joy in my life has come to me from my violin."

~Albert Einstein~

MACJR

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January 25, 2017 - 5:42 pm

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Gjinja said
Hi, I just joined & hoping to learn a lot here.

I've played several instruments throughout my life & always wanted to try my hand at the violin but never could til recently. I literally just received my very VERY cheap student model about a week ago. It seems to sound ok to me (for a cheap student model at least) but I'm not certain I've been exposed enough to it for me to be picky about the sound quality anyway. Understanding everything that comes with student models of any instrument (strings, bridge, etc) are going to be as cheap & bad as it gets, I went ahead & bought some extra accessories to 1) attempt to upgrade the sound quality a bit... &, 2)In the case of strings, have an extra set available for when they inevitably break.

I know there's probably a better place to ask this but I couldn't seem to find it. My question(s) is this:

*Should I go ahead & change out the strings that came on my violin when I got it, or wait until I have a better ear for any improvement it may/may not make?

*The bridge that came with it seems pretty cheap so I bought another... how much difference would chaning that make & should I do that as well now?

Thanks, looking forward to a long relationships with those I get to know here 🙂

As for the strings, it depends on what strings came with your instrument. If they came with D"Addario Prelude strings, which is an option on some student violins, then those will do fine for now.

If they are Cecilio strings, then you may indeed want to change those out. They will do, unless they break on you, if you do not have better strings, but they really are not the best sounding strings available. Not even close.

If you do not know what type of strings that were installed, they are probably very cheap strings, whatever brand they are.

If the bridge works for now, it can wait, in my opinion. But if you are going to change strings, that would be a great time to change bridges too. 😉

MACJR

Gjinja

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January 25, 2017 - 5:58 pm

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MACJR said

As for the strings, it depends on what strings came with your instrument. If they came with D"Addario Prelude strings, which is an option on some student violins, then those will do fine for now.
If they are Cecilio strings, then you may indeed want to change those out. They will do, unless they break on you, if you do not have better strings, but they really are not the best sounding strings available. Not even close.
If you do not know what type of strings that were installed, they are probably very cheap strings, whatever brand they are.
If the bridge works for now, it can wait, in my opinion. But if you are going to change strings, that would be a great time to change bridges too. 😉
MACJR

Thank you so much for your reply. I have no idea what strings came on it & even the violin itself has no identifying manufacturer marks that I can find, that's how cheap it is. I figured I'll be ok with it while I'm learning the basics & I can shop for a decent violin as well. I'll probably go ahead & change them all then... thanks again! 🙂

"I know that the most joy in my life has come to me from my violin."

~Albert Einstein~

MACJR

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January 25, 2017 - 6:10 pm

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You will need to research how to fit a new bridge to your violin before you do anything though. There is a little more to it than just swapping one for another.

If there is a will, there is a way, though. 🙂

MACJR

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January 25, 2017 - 6:15 pm

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Changing a bridge is not as easy as it sounds. When you take off all the strings it is very easy for the sound post to fall. Getting the feet right on the bridge takes some time. Change the strings (one at a time) for now, but leave the bridge for later. Bob

MACJR

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January 25, 2017 - 7:48 pm

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Speaking of sound posts, my brother bought a $35 violin a few months back, and his sound post fell over shortly after he got it.

He did not have the tools to fix it, and it took him a while to figure out how to fix it on his own, but he did fix it eventually. He ended up making his own tools for the job.

I have had my strings and bridge off my violin before, but I was careful. My sound post is in there tight too, and fortunately, in the right location, so I did not have a problem with that, but it is something to keep in mind. If your sound post falls over, you either need to get someone to fix it, or buy/make tools to fix it yourself. Fixing it yourself is not easy, unless you are already experienced in such things.

As MrYikes suggests, changing strings (remove and replanting them one at a time) is the safest way for a beginner to start with. If you want to try more, keep in mind that, that unless you pay someone to fix it, your violin may not be in playing condition for some time if that sound post falls over. It took my brother a month to figure out how to fix it on his own.

I would not discourage you if you really want to try changing that bridge yourself though, just be sure to do your homework first. It is not something you want to rush into unprepared.